Sunday, May 18, 2008

This recipe for small, sweet rolls -- perfect for a tea party -- comes from an undated book called the "Home-Tried Cook Book." I am thinking pre-WWI but it's hard to tell. It's printed on flimsy paper and held together with twine, and the tone throughout is, well...stern.

"Soak 1 cake of yeast in warm water 1 hour. Dissolve 2 rounded tablespoons of lard, 2/3 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon salt in 2 cups boiling water. Let this cool and add 2 well-beaten eggs and yeast. Stiffen almost as stiff as bread, allow to raise a day before using (24 hours). If kept in a cool place the dough will keep for a week. Bake in gem pans.

"Make the puffs out in the middle of the morning when wanted for supper. Do not keep too warm while raising. In summer keep in the ice box exccept the puffs you intend to bake. The weather has much to do with success. Practice makes perfect."

GDad, your comment reminded me of a formal military dinner I once attended where the Staff Sgt who was my dinner partner & I discussed the possibility of just such a thing with our dinner rolls, which appeared to have been around since Belleau Wood.

Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2018

Because Help Can't Wait

Subscribe Now: Feed Icon

About Me

Middle-aged Middle-westerner, retired Marine and Detroiter who somehow wound up in a farm village of 1100 people. I am a Red Cross volunteer and adrenalin junkie, and recently retired from my job as a bioterrorism/public health planner. My hobbies are military history and needlework. I share the bungalow with the Spousal Unit, Batdog our GSD, Reserve Cat, our very large and increasingly grumpy ginger tom, and the New Kids (Sheba and Minnie). You will find here free patterns from my collection of pre-1955 needlework magazines (sewing, knitting, tatting, crochet, embroidery, etc) as well as old recipes, vintage household hints, poetry, occasional rants, LOLCats, and any pieces of ephemera that tickle my fancy.